At 09:12 AM 12/11/02 -0800, you wrote:
If everybody did that, then Macs would have the same security problem. The number-one reason that Windows and OE are so virus-prone is that their popularity makes them virus targets. If Macs were as popular as Windows PCs, then we'd see a lot more viruses -- and other hacks -- aimed at them, and I have no reason to believe they'd prove any more resistant.Why not just buy a Mac?
Linux is a slightly different story. Yes, it has the advantage of being a smaller -- and therefore less attractive -- target. But it has a couple of advantages and a disadvantage in terms of vulnerability to viruses and other hacking exploits:
* The open code base is both and advantage and a disadvantage. The advantage is that holes, once discovered, are quickly closed. And the community that maintains Linux includes people who know and care about security, so the holes are more likely to be closed before they're exposed by exploits. But the open code base also makes it easier for the hacker to design an exploit without having to probe.
* The Linux user base is much more knowledgeable than either the PC or Mac users, on average. That means that they know what to do and what not to do to "practice safe computing."
Cheers!
DaveT
